Divisions along cadre-lines appeared among government officers on Sunday, with the IAS association condemning the alleged misbehaviour by a Minister with one of their own, while officials of the Delhi Administration Subordinate Services (DASS) distanced themselves from what they said were false allegations.
On August 3, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot allegedly misbehaved with Transport Secretary-cum-Commissioner Varsha Joshi, a statement from the Joint Forum of the Associations of the Transport Department said on August 4. It stated that the Minister insulted the officer during a meeting and threatened to have her implicated in a case.
Mr. Gahlot, however, denied the allegations and said there had been a disagreement over how to answer one of the questions asked by an MLA for the upcoming Delhi Assembly session.
On Sunday, the IAS association came out against the alleged misbehaviour. A tweet by the official handle of the Central IAS association read: “This kind of misbehaviour with officials is just not acceptable. Strongly condemned. [sic].”
However, not all officials were on the same page. In a statement issued on Sunday, Delhi Government Employees Welfare Association president D. N. Singh said he wanted to make it clear that DASS cadre members were not part of the Joint Forum of Transport Department associations. He asked if the joint forum had been registered and when it was formed.
“We are strongly against using employees for hoax cries of victimisation in the name of dignity of senior officers just to create a situation of an anarchist state. False and defamatory allegations will not be tolerated as an excuse to hide corruption in offices of public dealing,” Mr. Singh said in the statement.